Rekindling the Night Fires Returns To Town Hall Theater

Theatre Group, Ltd.'s Night Fires, a grand northern Vermont tradition for nearly 30 years, will be returning as Rekindling the Night Fires for a weekend of performances at Middlebury's Town Hall Theater. Led by Marianne Lust, Annie Nessen Voorhees, Abigail Nessen Bengson, and Shaun McClain Bengson, Rekindling the Night Fires features veteran members of the company and some of the most beloved music and poetry from three decades of Night Fires past.

A contemporary winter solstice celebration with ancient roots, a tapestry of music, poetry and dance, this year's story takes the audience on a journey through the darkest night of the year and of the soul, back through to the light again. Rekindling the Night Fires weaves music, poems, and stories from Ireland, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, India, and the Americas. It is a hymn to fresh water, a prayer for the healing of the earth, and praise for all living things from the toad, to the whale, to the night sky. The cast of ten features veteran Night Fires performers Mary Barnett, Stephanie Gallas, Clarke Jordan, Nate Wallace-Gusakov, Jim & Clara Carroll, Sara Granstrom with lighting design by Lynne Reed with assistance from Zac Young.

While this magical, evocative performance is for the whole family, Night Fires is most definitely not a "children's Christmas pageant," and parents should be warned that some younger folk may be frightened by the exquisite and elaborate masks designed by Ellen Graf. Others, like their parents, will be enchanted.

Rekindling the Nightfires will be performed at Town Hall Theater Thursday - Saturday, December 16-18 at 8:00 pm, with a Saturday matinee at 4:00 pm. Tickets, $18/$15 Seniors/$13 Under 12, are available through the THT Box Office by calling 802-382-9222, online at www.townhalltheater.org, in person Monday - Saturday, noon - 5:00 pm, or at the door if available.